Let me tell you Justine's story

You Might Not Believe This

You might not believe this but I had no interest in any type of creative expression until very recently. I never drew, painted, did crafts, or wrote. I have never taken formal art classes or creative writing classes. The fact that I could even do any of these talents never entered my head until I was in my 40’s. Now I would consider myself to be a creative person. You can see a few of my protects here and here.

You might not believe this but I’ve been married to the same man for 36 years. Next week is our anniversary. We met one summer, began dating, got engaged 11 months later, and were married a year later. I was 22 and Greg was 21. We bought a house before we even got married and started out married life in our own home. We (shockingly!) never lived together first. In fact everyone we know that did live together first is divorced now.

You might not believe this but I decided what I wanted to do for a living when I was 14 and I’ve been doing it for 40 years. I joined a club in high school where we organized social events for people who had developmental challenges in our community. When the nursery school in town needed volunteers, I was allowed to leave school one morning a week and work there. I went to college and studied to work with people who have a variety of challenges. I’ve worked in large institutions, private homes, group homes, elementary schools and high schools.

It’s nice to find other people in the world that have similar experiences to your own. I also dated my Husband for a year, got engaged for three months and have now been married for 11 and half years. We also never lived together before we tied the knot. As you said I also have friends who did it the other way and have since divorced (which is sad). In the past 5 years I have also started to draw more and even though I have always enjoyed creative pursuits (photography, art, etc.) I always thought I could not draw but have surprised myself. I’m four years away from the big 50 milestone and there’s still so much more to explore. Thank you for a great post.

That painting in the header is so nice. So many amazing things about your life make me feel you are a wonderful person who is creative and fortunate 🙂

Longevity of married life and work suggests you are not only a faithful and thoughtful person but also very committed towards what you do. You didn’t mention your gardens in this post but I know they are such wonderful projects too and you photograph so well.